U.S. Department of State: Serbia and Kosovo "are never going to be one again"
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Serbia and Kosovo will never be part of the same country again, and all those concerned should work for a stable outcome in the Balkans based on that reality.
Rice stopped short of endorsing a timetable for Kosovo independence, but she made clear her expectation that the majority-Albanian Serbian province will soon be on its own, and urged all concerned parties to accept that reality.
A final round of talks between Kosovar and Serbian officials mediated by the United States, the European Union and Russia ended inconclusively earlier this month. Serbia, backed by its ally Moscow, had offered a maximum degree of autonomy but not independence for the region.
In the aftermath of the talks, U.S. and European Union officials have made clear they favor giving Kosovo supervised independence under the plan presented last March by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
Kosovar leaders in Pristina have said they will announce independence early in the coming year.
Asked about such a prospect, Rice said it will be important to take decisions about Kosovo's status in the next several weeks, and that not doing so would be destabilizing:
"The fact is that Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be part of the same state again. I think that's quite clear. It was the logic even of (UN Resolution) 1244 on the special status accorded Kosovo as a result of the war. And the important thing is for these two peoples to get on with their futures," she said, VOA reports.
Rice stopped short of endorsing a timetable for Kosovo independence, but she made clear her expectation that the majority-Albanian Serbian province will soon be on its own, and urged all concerned parties to accept that reality.
A final round of talks between Kosovar and Serbian officials mediated by the United States, the European Union and Russia ended inconclusively earlier this month. Serbia, backed by its ally Moscow, had offered a maximum degree of autonomy but not independence for the region.
In the aftermath of the talks, U.S. and European Union officials have made clear they favor giving Kosovo supervised independence under the plan presented last March by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
Kosovar leaders in Pristina have said they will announce independence early in the coming year.
Asked about such a prospect, Rice said it will be important to take decisions about Kosovo's status in the next several weeks, and that not doing so would be destabilizing:
"The fact is that Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be part of the same state again. I think that's quite clear. It was the logic even of (UN Resolution) 1244 on the special status accorded Kosovo as a result of the war. And the important thing is for these two peoples to get on with their futures," she said, VOA reports.
